Skip navigation

American fakes own decapitation in tape

22-year-old staged Iraq execution at San Francisco house

Image: Benjamin Vanderford
Benjamin Vanderford, 22, is interviewed at his home in San Francisco, on Saturday, after a video he made aired showing his staged decapitation.
Ron Harris / AP
Conflict in Iraq video  
Money talks for Blackwater in Iraq
Nov. 10: The New York Times reports that the Blackwater security company authorized secret payments to Iraqi officials to silence criticism. Rachel Maddow talks about these new revelations with Jeremy Scahill, reporter for The Nation.

  Timeline  
  
Image: Ayatollah Khomeini
AP file

The relationship is at center of world affairs and America's global interests

Interactive
Fight for Iraq
Learn more about the ethnic, religious and political powerplays in this virtual tour led by NBC’s Richard Engel.
Text alerts on msnbc.com

Breaking news alerts (about 1 per day)
Click here to sign up or text NEWS to MSNBC (67622).

Find more alerts at alerts.msnbc.com

updated 10:38 a.m. ET Aug. 7, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO - A video aired Saturday that purportedly showed an American being decapitated in Iraq was a hoax.

The American, Benjamin Vanderford, reached by The Associated Press in San Francisco, said he videotaped the staged beheading at his friend's house using fake blood.

Vanderford, 22, said he began distributing the video on the Internet months ago in hopes of drawing attention to his one-time campaign for city supervisor. When his political aspirations waned, he thought the video would serve as social commentary.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

Image: Decapitation hoax video.
AP
Benjamin Vanderford from San Francisco is seen in a video in which he pretends to be decapitated in Iraq.

"It was part of a stunt, but no one noticed it up until now," Vanderford said. "I did this for a couple of reasons. One is to attract attention. But two is to just make a statement on these type of videos and how easily they can be faked."

On the tape, Vanderford sat on a chair in a dark room, his hands behind his back, trembling and rocking back and forth. The tape showed a hand with a knife cutting at the motionless man's neck, but did not show any militants.

"We need to leave this country alone. We need to stop this occupation," he said on the video, adding that he had been offered for exchange with prisoners in Iraq. "Everyone's going to be killed this way."

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored LinksGet listed here
Top Online Schools
Find the perfect online school and Boost your Career! Free Info Pack.
www.EarnMyDegree.com

Sponsored links

Resource guide